My marathon was a trail marathon and went out at 6am. I took public transport to the race which dictated my schedule more than if you were driving or getting a cab. The race I did was pretty mellow with only 70 odd people running the marathon; as such I didn’t need to factor in bathroom or registration/ number collection queues. If you’re running any of the bigger races, I highly recommend leaving extra time for both of these activities.
Getting there
This will depend on where your race is but if you are going to drive I would HIGHLY recommend having a backup driver with you. There is no way I would have been up for driving home, even an automatic.
My race day timeline
This will vary significantly depending on which marathon you are doing however I hope it gives you an idea of my warm-up time and pre-race eating. I had been drinking more fluids the week before and drunk 400ml of Powerade the morning of the race too. I’ve documented my eating and drinking for the week before my marathon here.
Race tips
- Do not stop moving. If you need to pick up water keep walking through the drink station, if you stop you may not start again, particularly late on in the race.
- It’s probably obvious but ignore the runners around you, and get into your zone as quickly as possible. I made the mistake of thinking everyone around me would be really fast and let them go ahead, and then quickly realised some of them weren’t. Getting into my own rhythm as soon as possible was really important to realising this. The first km or two is likely to be hectic so just work away until you get clear air then find your pace.
- Start your watch, tracker or whatever you’re using before going through the start in case of any mishaps!
- Support the runners around you. I gave and received a lot of thumbs up and waves. It seems cringey but it genuinely helped as everyone at some stage will be struggling and it’s a long old way, whether they were in front doubling back passed me or similar, it added a bit more spring to my step.
- Remember how long a marathon actually is… This is embarrassing but I can’t be the only person to have done this. I thought a marathon was dead on 42km so when I saw the 42km sign and no finish I was not best pleased! Turns out it’s 42.2km so I was nearly there, but still, not ideal.
What to take
Obviously you’ll need your full kit and sustenance but I’ve added a list of extras I’d recommend bringing along too. Everyone says it but I very much stuck to the rule of nothing new on race day and it personally gave me less to worry about.
My basic kit list included the following, which I trained in regularly:
Beyond this I’d recommend bringing:
- Spare water bottles, and filling theme up so that they’re ready at the end – I had one water and one isotonic drink
- Isotonic drink powder – PowerAde, Hydralyte, Gatorade etc
- Spare clothes (including undies!)
- Slides or a comfy pair of shoes to travel home in
- Plasters, wound pads and tape for pre and post race
- Spare headphones – I carried a wired pair as a backup in the top pocket of my running best
- Food; I’d recommend taking a few options as you may not know what you want post race. Our race organisers had some snacks, watermelon being the absolute winner for me
- Instant ice pack. There should be a first aider on site however the one at my marathon didn’t have any ice packs and I really could have used something for one of my knees afterwards!
Post race
Be prepared to feel thoroughly drained. As soon as I stopped running my legs felt exhausted but I forced myself to walk a little and then do a bit of stretching. On the train ride home I walked up and down the carriage a bit to keep moving and hit the shower as soon as I got home.
Your post race plans will be very personal but I very happily took to the sofa, elevating the knee that was a bit sore and doing very little else!